1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to pistons for internal combustion engines.
2. Review of the Prior Art
A conventional piston is provided with a crown, a ring band extending around the crown and including two or more piston ring grooves, a skirt depending from the ring band and a pair of co-axial gudgeon pin bores which intersect the skirt and receive a gudgeon pin by which the piston is attached to an associated connecting rod. The lower edge of the skirt defines the lower edge of the piston. In use, the piston reciprocates in an associated cylinder or liner formed in an engine block and, for a given stroke of the piston, the height of the block, and consequently the mass of the block is determined at least in part by the axial length of the piston from the crown to the lower edge; the shorter the axial length, the lower the height of the block.